[2] In 1938, the Annual Review of Biochemistry, Ltd and the American Physiological Society agreed to collaborate to create a new journal.

[5] The first editor of the journal was Annual Reviews founder J. Murray Luck,[6] and the first editorial committee consisted of Anton Julius Carlson, John Farquhar Fulton, M. H. Jacobs, F. C. Mann, and Walter J. Meek as chairman.

[8] It continued to be jointly published by Annual Reviews and the American Physiological Society until 1962, at which time the APS withdrew for administrative reasons.

All other members of the editorial committee are appointed by the Annual Reviews board of directors and serve five-year terms.

The editorial committee determines which topics should be included in each volume and solicits reviews from qualified authors.